KOTA KINABALU, March 3 — Sabah Umno Youth today urged the new ruling national Perikatan Nasional (PN) to reject any application from Parti Warisan Sabah or its allies to join the fold.

State Youth chief Abdul Aziz Julkarnain said Warisan can be accepted if it was federal government-“friendly” so that Sabahans to reap the benefits, but the lines should be drawn there.

“But Perikatan leaders should reject them completely if Warisan decides they want to join the coalition,” he said.

Abdul Aziz said that Warisan, along with its state government allies of PKR, DAP and Upko still had intentions of supporting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister when the Dewan Rakyat sitting eventually happens.

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“Warisan, PH and Upko should abandon their intentions of doing so because it will amount to nothing. The political turmoil needs to end immediately,” he said in a statement here today.

Abdul Aziz instead said that the Warisan-PH-Upko should maintain their position and role as an opposition state in order to provide a check and balance to the federal government.

He said that in Sabah, the PN components comprised of Umno, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, STAR, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah and MCA, all of which have different political approaches compared to Warisan.

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“The policies of the Warisan government differs greatly from the Sabah community doctrine, and people rejected their efforts to introduce the Sabah temporary pass and were worried,” he said.

Abdul Aziz criticised Warisan’s administration of the state, claiming that they bulldozed through processes like the appointment of the Sabah Water Department director, as well as awarding billion-ringgit development projects by way of “direct awards” without any form of transparency in the open tender process.

He anticipated that the entry of Warisan into PN will be grounds for conflict of interest between government parties, especially in the upcoming court appeal by Tan Sri Musa Aman as the rightful chief minister as he alluded to potential defections and changes that could see Sabah become a government state.

“The entry of Warisan into PN will only stunt the process of trying to save the state from the wrong hands.

“We believe the Warisan government will collapse in due time because some of its elected representatives have been complaining that they were not giving positions and were unhappy with certain decisions,” he said.

When contacted, Sabah Umno chairman, Datuk Seri Bung Mokhtar Radin said that the stand belonged to Sabah Umno Youth alone.

When asked whether this was Sabah Umno’s stand as well, Bung said “I have to respect the stand of my Pemuda.”

Abdul Aziz’s statement comes amidst speculation that the state-led Warisan government might fall as some of its state assemblymen might opt to cross the floor and follow the new federal government.

Chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has not come out with a public statement since the collapse of the federal government which Warisan was aligned with, followed by the swearing-in of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the new prime minister.

Shafie today asked Sabahans to keep calm as he posted a photo of himself with his grandson along with the caption “keep calm and soldier on”.

Several Pakatan Harapan states have already fallen and some among the former ruling coalition’s lawmakers have defected to Perikatan.

At the current standing, Warisan, along with DAP, Upko and PKR holds 43 seats in the 60-seat state assembly while the Opposition, made up of Bersatu, PBS, STAR and Umno holds 17 seats.